William T. Coleman, Jr.

Source: DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NEWS

William T. Coleman, Jr., became the nation's fourth Secretary of Transportation on March 7, 1975, when he was administered the oath of office at a ceremony conducted by President Gerald R. Ford at the White House. President Ford nominated Secretary Coleman to the cabinet position on January 14, 1975. The Senate confirmed his nomination on March.3, 1975.

Secretary Coleman entered office following a distinguished career in law, business and public service that included advisory or consultant positions to four former Presidents.

At the time of his nomination, he was the senior partner in the law firm of Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Levy & Coleman of Philadelphia and special counsel to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Additionally, he was a director of Pan American World Airways, Inc., Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, First Pennsylvania Corporation, Philadelphia Electric Company and Western Saving Fund Society. He was also a member of the board of governors of the American Stock Exchange and a trustee of both the Rand Corporation and The Brookings Institution,

Born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Secretary Coleman attended local public schools and was graduated summa cum laude in 1941 from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a 1946 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the board of editors of the Harvard Law Review and recipient of the Joseph E. Beale Prize.

Secretary Coleman began his law career in 1947 as law secretary to Judge Herbert F. Goodrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The next year he became a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk, serving on the staff of the late Justice Felix Frankfurter.

Secretary Coleman has held several national-level public service positions. In 1969 he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the 24th session of the United Nations General Assembly; in 1971-1972, a member of the National Commission on Productivity; from 1963 to 1975, consultant to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; in 1964 senior consultant and assistant counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy; and from 1959 through 1961, a member of President Eisenhower's Committee on Government Employment Policy.

An ardent defender of civil rights, Secretary Coleman was one of the authors of the legal brief that persuaded the Supreme Court in 1954 to outlaw segregation in public schools. In 1965, he was retained by former Governor Scranton of Pennsylvania to assist in removing racial restrictions at Girard College in Philadelphia. He has served as a member of the national legal committee, director, member of the executive committee and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He has also served as a board member and president of the Earl Warren Legal Training Program,

Among the professional organizations with which Secretary Coleman is or has been associated are the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association and the American Arbitration Association.

In 1945, Secretary Coleman married the former Lovida Hardin, then of New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman have three children William T. Coleman, III, Lovida Hardin Coleman, Jr., and Hardin L. Coleman.